Tuesday State News Briefs: Loganville raw milk farmer's trial to go foward

Talk about it

BARABOO - A Sauk County judge denies a request from a raw milk farmer to throw out his case.

Vernon Hershberger of Loganville is set to go to trial in September on charges including unlicensed milk production. In his motion to dismiss, the Amish farmer claims the criminal complaint against him was invalid. He says this is because the state official who signed the document had not taken an oath of office and was not a "private citizen" who was injured as a result of the alleged crime. Sauk County Circuit Court Judge Guy Reynolds says he is not aware of any such law and Hershberger failed to cite one.

_______________________________________________________________

A video of Tommy Thompson referring to September 11th as September 18th has gone viral. The comments come from statements he made June fourth to the Lake Country Area Defenders of Liberty in Oconomowoc. Thompson touted why he is the most qualified to be Wisconsin's next U.S. Senator and discussed his time as U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary during the 9-11 attacks. He says quote "And then after 9/18, I was responsible for the public health of all Americans, responsible for preventing any attack using weaponized medicines like the plague, like smallpox, like anthrax, like tellurium." The Huffington Post is showing the clip. Brian Nemoir of the Thompson camp suggested the former governor misspoke during the quote "spirited campaign appearance."

________________________________________________________________

Bond has been set at $100,000 for a man accused of killing his brother during an argument in Sheboygan. 27-year-old Ronnie Polk is charged with reckless homicide in the death of Brandon Davis. Polk told police he didn't think the gun was loaded when he waved it at his brother during an argument which took place June 16th.The 24-year-old died in the hospital of a single gunshot wound.

_________________________________________________________________

State officials say the Emerald Ash Borer is turning up in more places. DATCP says the pest that was collected Friday from a Janesville resident's ash tree. It's the first EAB confirmed in Rock County. Also the beetle has been confirmed for the first time on state owned lands. EAB adults were captured on two separate survey traps in the Richard Bong State Recreation Area in Kenosha County and confirmed as EAB last Friday.

__________________________________________________________________

The state Department of Workforce Development says it has seen significant growth in the public's usage of JobCenterofWisconsin.com and accompanying social media. DWD Secretary Reggie Newson says over 26-hundred individuals noted they “like” the Job Center's Facebook page since its launch in April 2009. Newson credits the interest from the growth of the job center's website, saying it currently has almost 40,000 job postings and over 44,000 resumes from job seekers.

___________________________________________________________________

Experts want the public to be cognizant of the fire dangers involved on — and leading up to — the Fourth of July, especially if you’re in an area with dry conditions. Lori Wirth with the City of Madison Fire Department says consumer fireworks are not standardized; they are not reliable; and one has no way of controlling where that firework will land. At that point, it could land on something combustible and easily start a fire. She adds fireworks might be against local ordinances. A number of Wisconsin communities are working to prevent fires in the midst of the all this dry weather. Several municipalities have cancelled their weekend fireworks including Cross Plaines and a joint show planned by Prairie du Sac and Sauk City. Outdoor burn bans have also been implemented in numerous places including Eagle, Wales and Genesee along with Rock County.

___________________________________________________________________

Two months ago the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced it would hire more mental health workers. States are now finding out how many positions they'll get in order to deal with a backlog of mental health cases. VA spokesman Tim Donovan says the Madison VA hospital will get five new positions including a neuropsychologist who can treat vets who have dementia and brain injuries. At the Madison location, they have 150 mental health clinicians and support staff to treat 40,000 veterans. Wisconsin also has VA hospitals in Tomah and Milwaukee. The increase of access and quality of care at VA faciliites was spurred in part by a federal appeals court ruling last year.

____________________________________________________________________

Milwaukee based Voces de la Frontera is pleased the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the majority of the Arizona immigration law. Executive Director Christine Neumann-Ortiz is particularly pleased that the high court struck down a provision authorizing police in that state to conduct a warrantless arrest of anyone they suspect could be deported. Neumann-Ortiz also says efforts to pass Arizona-style legislation in Wisconsin failed because of bipartisan opposition - and she expects similar opposition if such a bill is proposed in the future. Five states have laws on the books similar to that in Arizona.

_____________________________________________________________________

The U.S. Agriculture Department yesterday announced eleven Wisconsinites out-of-430 nationwide who'll receive federal money to reduce energy consumption and launch “green" projects. The cash received ranges from five-thousand to 16-thousand dollars. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack mentioned Maurice Nichols of Mount Hope, Wisconsin. Nichols was selected to receive a grant to purchase efficient grain dryer for his farm, saving over 42 percent in annual energy usage. The majority of Badger State producers who will receive money will put it to use for a grain dryer with others to use a reverse osmosis system and solar power livestock water tanks.

Tags: news, wisconsin, agriculture